AP source: Biden-Manchin talks on $2T Dem bill going poorly

Negotiations between President Joe Biden and holdout Sen. Joe Manchin over Democrats’ $2 trillion social and environment bill are said to be going poorly

WASHINGTON -- Negotiations between President Joe Biden and Sen. Joe Manchin over the Democrats' huge social and environment bill are going poorly, a person familiar with the talks said Wednesday, the latest sign that leaders’ hopes of moving the bill through the Senate before Christmas were increasingly bleak.

Manchin, D-W.Va., has told the president he wants to eliminate the measure's extension of a more generous child tax credit, said the person, who would describe the situation only on condition of anonymity.

Manchin told reporters that assertions he opposes that tax credit were “a lot of bad rumors."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has said he wants the Senate to approve the 10-year, nearly $2 trillion legislation by Christmas in hopes of using the upcoming holiday to prod Manchin and others to resolve final disputes over the bill. Democrats need all their votes in the 50-50 Senate to advance the legislation, and unresolved disputes with Manchin and other time-consuming hurdles have made it seem increasingly unlikely that senators could even begin debating the bill before the holiday.